Strikeforce Heavyweight Grand Prix Bouts to Feature Sudden Death Rounds for Draws

With the second pair of first round fights in the Strikeforce Heavyweight Grand Prix set for Saturday there has been a little change to the way draws will be handled. Previously, Strikeforce had announced that draws would be settled by a "fourth judge" who would determine the overall winner of the bout. This was an issue to many fans in that the promotion assigned judge might choose a winner based on the promotion's best interest.

MMA Fighting has word on the new plan to handle draws:

Marc Ratner, Zuffa's vice president of regulatory affairs, informed MMA Fighting on Sunday that Zuffa, the new parent company of the Strikeforce, has decided that all tournament fights ending in a draw will now be settled by a fourth sudden death round. There will not be a fourth judge assigned to the tournament fights anymore.

It's very interesting to see this as the plan given that it isn't a part of standing operating procedure for athletic commissions. I'm just a little curious if all the commissions that may be involved have given the idea the thumbs up or if they're just starting with Texas because, let's face it, Texas basically lets promoters do whatever they want.

Still, this isn't a bad thing by any means and is probably the ideal way to deal with draws.

SBN coverage of Strikeforce: Overeem vs. Werdum